Nutrition and Obesity

Interest in the whole ‘farm to table’ movement is growing. But one aspect of it continues to be controversial in Virginia; direct farm sales of raw, unpasteurized milk. Some say it should be a personal choice. And others warn, it’s a question of public safety.

At the farmer’s market in Blacksburg, customers come early for their raw milk so they can get it before it’s gone. Steve Moll, a builder in town is here almost every week.

“Yeah, It’s just so good. It really has flavor and it has cream. Real cream. I make butter out of it.”

It’s a sad fact that we produce enough food in this country to feed everyone in it, yet hunger remains a problem for many.

Virginia Tech is joining the effort to change that. It kicks off its “Campus Kitchens” program Wednesday, September 30th. It’s a carefully orchestrated volunteer effort to save still-fresh food, left over from student dining halls, and get it to people who need it.

Over the past 30 years, rates of childhood obesity in this country have quadrupled. Eighteen percent of kids and 21% of teenagers are now considered overweight. It’s a problem that has one Charlottesville mother on the warpath - preaching and writing the gospel of healthier habits.

Shelley Sackier is the slender mother of two healthy kids, so you might not expect her to worry much about the growing number of American children with a weight problem, but she has known - from an early age - that eating too much of the wrong things could have uncomfortable consequences.